The Lexus RX is a good vehicle, but it’s about to get some competition – from another Lexus.
Until the new Lexus NX appears later this year, the Lexus RX 350 is the automaker’s most prominent crossover SUV. Smaller than a traditional SUV, but larger than a sedan with a more useful payload. I look on the crossover as the descent of the classic station wagon – a vehicle that handles like a car while carrying people and assorted everyday stuff. Crossover do look better than most of the long extinct station wagons, but I still miss a nice Ford LTD with wood panelling.
But I digress.
The latest Lexus RX 350 is the automaker’s biggest crossover – perhaps as large as a crossover can get without emerging into full-on SUV territory. If I’m honest, Lexus really does quality the RX as an SUV, but it retains enough of a car’s lines and driving feel to hold onto the crossover tag.
Fuel economy across the board is adequate, averaging out at more than 20 mpg.
Depending on the driver’s selected options, the RX arrives with a full suite of standard
The driving experience is solid, but it seems to float somewhere in between the different satisfying levels of other makes. For example, it has decent speed and pickup – but it doesn’t have the reassuring power of a Lexus sedan. It’s grounded enough, but it doesn’t have the physical presence of a full-size Lexus SUV such as the Lexus LX.
Related: 2014 Lexus GX Big on Comfort, Tech
But, that’s what you get with a crossover. It’s trying to be a little bit of everything, straddling the gap between classes. It’s up to the buyer whether that balancing of identities snags a sort of catchall for the driving experience he or she wants.
Still, it’s a successful vehicle for Lexus as dual income couples look for an urban transport suitable for commuting and vacation labor. When they want a little sexier badge than Toyota, Ford, or Volkswagen, they reach out for a step like this or now of its competitors.
Also for 2015, Lexus is introducing the NX – a vehicle similar to the RX in outward aesthetics, but smaller and less expensive. Sales numbers won’t be in for some time, but it’ll be interesting to see if both the RX and NX coexist, or if one eclipses the other.
